It has been years since I watched a TV serial regularly , but in the 90s I used to watch a few on ZEE TV---like Campus , Hasratein , Parampara etc . It was the age when the Ekta Kapoor phenomenon had not happened to TV , and saas bahu serials with regressive plots did not rule the roost . Satellite TV was still mainly watched by city folk and the storylines of serials revolved around lives of city people .

'Sailaab' was one of the 'extramarital affairs serials' popular at that time ( 90s ) on Zee TV , the other being 'Hasratein' .

The serial shows two young lovers in love with one another in Mumbai---Sachin Khedekar and Renuka Shahane . Sachin is struggling in the ad industry , and has come from another town . He is a hard worker , but does not have much money . But big city girl Renuka Shahane is bowled over by his honesty and simplicity and soon they are in love . They meet secretly and later openly and seem perfect for each other .

But Renuka's big brother Raju Kher is not impressed . He is okay as far as Sachin is coming to his house as Renuka's friend , but is dead against the marriage . Reason---Sachin is not equal to his family financially . Of course , he feels Sachin is a good boy and has nothing against him . But does not want him to marry his sister . Raju has big dreams of marrying his beloved sister to a rich man , and asks her to cut off the relationship .

But Renuka decides to elope with Sachin . When Raju hears of this he pours petrol on himself and threatens to kill himself by burning himself to death if Renuka elopes . Under severe pressure Renuka crumbles and agrees to end the relationship . When Sachin hears of this he is devastated . At the same time he hears of his father's death and the world collapses around him .

Renuka is married off to another person , a rich doctor played first by Ajinkya Dev and later by Mahesh Thakur---the change in actors being a phenomena of long TV serials . And Sachin---he rises like a phoenix from the ashes to work hard and carve a name for himself . Yes , he becomes a successful man . Prajakti Deshmukh , who is Renuka's friend marries him . She has known of his former love and is warned by her parents that Sachin has not got over his love for Renuka , but she disregards this advice and marries Sachin . Her parents are opposed to the marriage and do not attend the marriage .

Years later Sachin's and Renuka's paths cross again , and old sparks fly again . They discover that they never stopped loving each other . And they want to meet---again and again . Clandestine meetings are sought and they begin to date again on the sly . Soon they realise that if they cannot meet even for a single day then they feel an emptiness....On the surface they pretend to be happy in the respective marriages but reality is different .

So what will happen when their respective partners ( Prajakti Deshmukh and Mahesh Thakur ) discover what is happening ? Will it lead to Sailaab---the flood....
Watch the serial for that . It is available fully on youtube .

On seeing a few episodes of the serial on youtube recently , I was struck by how old the serial looks . No HD format , no wide screen format---for it was made 20 years ago when TV had not switched to this technology . The world was of the mid nineties---so no mobile phones . The era was old too---women did not smoke or drink even the people shown were sophisticated city people . Above all , even when the lovers meet in restaurants there is not sex or even kissing---the relationship between Sachin and Shivani remains physically chaste all the time because the middle class audience which watched the serial at that time ( 90s ) was not prepared for that .

This being a TV serial , everything happens in slow motion---for the whole story is to be dragged over 90+ episodes of 23 minutes each . But the serial is embellished with superb ghazals by Talat Aziz and the late Jagjit Singh , and these heighten the emotion and sensitivity of the scenes . Indeed music is the high point of the serial , and it has many emotional scenes acted very well .

The serial went on to become a success , and was ZEE TV's number one serial at that time . Ravi Rai who directed it became a much sought after director , directing other TV serials like 'Teacher' and 'Thoda hai thode ki jaroorat hai' . Years later watch the serial on youtube today , I found myself again interested....

I remember has-raatein older music teacher teaching tabla to his tabalchi student who his young wife (2nd wife) is attracted to.. she eventually splits I think and later repents going with the broke guy.

I remember has-raatein older music teacher teaching tabla to his tabalchi student who his young wife (2nd wife) is attracted to.. she eventually splits I think and later repents going with the broke guy.

it is only half available on youtube . first ninety episodes out of 200+

I used to watch serials only in DD. In satellite TV, i just watched movies songs and shows like Philips top 10.
BTW, some serials have come on netflix. One likeable one seems to be tarak Mehta ka ulta chashma. Saw the first few episodes. Bachcha log were just glued though they didnt understand a word of it.

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This is quite a game, politics. There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends,only permanent interests. - Some Firang

'Sailaab' was one of the 'extramarital affairs serials' popular at that time ( 90s ) on Zee TV , the other being 'Hasratein' .
The serial went on to become a success , and was ZEE TV's number one serial at that time . Ravi Rai who directed it became a much sought after director , directing other TV serials like 'Teacher' and 'Thoda hai thode ki jaroorat hai' . Years later watch the serial on youtube today , I found myself again interested....

Thanks for summarizing it. i used to see that play, but never had (and still have) the patience to watch serials. Now, didnt this sailaab itself changed to 'Thoda hai thode ki jaroorat hai' and it moved to Sony (i remember hearing a radio ad announcing it.
And the role of Sachin was RIP in a garlanded photo (or was that Chhoti si Asha)

BTW, there was a Zee serial called Dillagi (Dilip Dhawan and Radha Seth) which apparently had too much of kissing. Also, there was this 'Tara', where Amita Nangia was drinking beer. Main characters were Alok 'Bauji' Nath and navneet Nishan.

My Behenji used to love watching Santa Barbara and Bold and beautiful before Star plus became a Desi Channel and English shows moved to Star world and she herself moved to Umrika.

now to take further back in the memory lane, i remember one episode from Hum Log where a peaceful senior police officer is trapped in a false case. Nanhe advises him - "Why don't you play the minority card and claim that you are being harrased because you are from minority" The pandu then replies - "No, i belong to the majority which comprises honest people."

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This is quite a game, politics. There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends,only permanent interests. - Some Firang

I used to watch serials only in DD. In satellite TV, i just watched movies songs and shows like Philips top 10.
BTW, some serials have come on netflix. One likeable one seems to be tarak Mehta ka ulta chashma. Saw the first few episodes. Bachcha log were just glued though they didnt understand a word of it.

Yes, Tarak Mehta is still as popular as ever. Then nowadays there is one worth watching - Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hain ?? on &TV. 30 minutes from 10:30pm-11, but I usually watch the re-run the next morning at 11:30.

__________________Nietzsche (1887) : God is deadGod (1900) : Nietzsche is dead -----------------------------------------
I will not be hurried and I will not be bullied

Does anyone here remember 'Saaya' on Sony TV? I was kid when it was first aired in late nineties. I wouldn't like it, found it comic and would tease sister for watching it.

In mid 2000s re-runs I watched it with interest.

Now it has come full circle. I found it repulsive when I saw it on youtube.

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The only ones I find watchable are crime patrol and office office with mussadi lal

Agree... saw two episodes of Tarak on Netflix and could not take it any more. Same with Crime Patrol... don't know when they will come up to mark. But the same can be said with american serials... they are all boring. I am going to stick with movies

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"Hinduism brought a multitude of religions under one roof and survived for eons. Christianity and other religions will need to do the same or perish." - saneless